The Money Show: June 28, 2006

Fair Go Money SpecialIf there's one item that underpins all consumer issues -
it's money. Our Fair Go Money Special looks at people in serious
financial strife who want to get out, and we've got experts on hand
who can help them. We also feature some smart operators who seem to
be doing it right - we hope we can learn something from them.

Matt and Jenna - borrowing Reporter: Simon Mercep

Matt Standing and Jenna Clark are both 20, and their baby Sean -
is three months and counting. This couple have big money worries
which they can trace back to four years ago, when getting a loan
seemed so simple.
Their road to ruin starts with Matt's love of cars. He took a
mechanic's course, with the help of a $4500 student loan. And
Jenna had a student loan too: $2000 for a flight attendant's
course, which she was unable to use because she got pregnant.

Then Matt got a loan for a car - a Mazda 323: $9000, plus all
sorts of flash extras - mag wheels, a new front bumper and lights,
bonnet vents, bucket seats, upmarket steering wheel, alarm, and a
few other things. All up, another loan for $6500. It wasn't hard
getting the loans: Matt had a good job in a quarry.

The couple then moved from Whangarei to Auckland, and shared a
flat. They borrowed again - for the bond - and then got department
store credit cards to buy whiteware, furniture, kitchen
appliances.

Paying it back? Easy, they thought, it's only an extra $15 here,
$26 there - the price of a takeaway meal. They didn't think that,
altogether, they were repaying a large lump sum.

Matt and Jenna got a boarder in to help share costs, but the
flat was too small. So, they got a bigger place and a second
boarder. But they had to borrow for that bond, and one of the
boarders fell behind with rent. Matt got a better paying job. Even
so, things got worse.

Jenna needed a car. They borrowed $5000 for a Mini. Then -
disaster. Matt lost his job.

Then one of their boarders owed rent. They lost the bond on the
flat, and moved in with parents. Matt now got a credit card. It was
supposed to be for an engagement ring, but Matt actually used the
card to upgrade his Mazda again.

Matt and Jenna now had total debts of $47,000. Something had to
give. And the repo men were the ones to take it. They lost the
Mazda extras, then the Mazda, and the Mini. Matt says he wanted to
go bankrupt. But when their baby arrived, Matt and Jenna realised
if they got a bad credit rating, they would have problems getting a
mortgage."

Finally, they came to a budget adviser. He spent a year with
them, working out a budget, negotiating with creditors, and trying
to change their thinking on money. Matt and Jenna still have
another 16 months of hard core budgeting, saving, and repayments,
before they are debt free.

CEO of the NZ Family Budgeting Service, Raewyn Fox, says Matt
and Jenna's case is not unusual. She says she's concerned about the
acceptability of debt in society, and how much more comfortable
people are with a high level of debt than they would have been even
10 years ago. Raewyn's other concern is the ease of getting loans.
In some cases, Matt and Jenna were offered more than they asked
for.

Raewyn says just because money is easy to borrow, it is not
necessarily easy to pay back. She says the budget service starts by
getting a full picture of all the incomings and outgoings - the
level of debt. This is when people have to face the music, she
says:

"There are only two ways out of debt: earn more or spend less.
This is the time when people can lose their nerve. They want us to
wave a magic wand. We have to say, there is none. You have to do
the hard yards and stay committed like Matt and Jenna."

One advantage of working with an advisor is that when you have
big debts, creditors are sick of your excuses. An independent third
party will sometimes be able to negotiate repayment terms on your
behalf. That is a real strength of the budget service.

These days Matt is working full-time, Jenna looks after baby
Sean, and works part-time in the weekends. They say they have
savings for the first time in their life and have even have money
allocated for treats.

Matt and Jenna's tipsPay for anything you want with saved money
You don't need to have everything right now
If you do put anything on HP, make it one thing at a time
Shop around for bargains, and get expert advice about loans
Any interest over 20% is bad

Raewyn Fox's key pointsDon't fall into the trap of thinking - that's only another
$10 or $15 a week. Think about the total amount owed, and what you
can afford.
Factor a risk element into your budget - losing your job for a few
weeks for instance. Can you cover a loan if this happens?
Don't wait until you're in a crisis. Do a proper budget before
then
Seek expert help as early as possible.

First home buyersReporter: Sandra Kailahi

Keith and Kelly Miller and baby Keegan live in rental housing in
Paremoremo, near Auckland, and pay $290 a week. They don't like
paying rent and want to buy their own home to provide for their
children's future, and have an asset that they'll be emotionally
invested in as well.

Their combined income is about $47,500. They think they can
afford a house in the $300,000 range - which would cost them about
$400 out of their weekly $800.

The Miller's perfect house has to have a lot of character, let
them express their personalities, have room to grow, room for kids
to play, be close to good schools and have potential for future
buyers

They want to know what can they really afford? We put that to
financial advisor Murray Weatherston, who's a great supporter of
young people getting started early in the house market. Why?

"There's no way you will be able to save the increased amount
you will have to borrow even in a years time, to buy the same house
you could buy today - so you will never lose," Murray told the
couple that if they bought a $300,000 house today, and inflation
continues at current rate of 3%, the same house will cost $9000
more to buy in a year's time.

But Murray did caution Kelly and Keith to be realistic. He
thought they could afford a $200,000 mortgage - $400 a week for a
mortgage and $400 a week for living. The mortgage would be 40% of
gross income, which is pretty high. But Murray thinks it's
do-able.

They may not get a 100% mortgage from the bank, and may need -
as a lot of young first home buyers do - help from their families
by way of a deposit. Murray suggested rather than a house, Kelly
and Keith may need to look at an apartment or town house.

And a warning to all first home buyers out there: When you're
working out how much of a mortgage you can afford, don't forget
rates, insurance, and house maintenance.

But Murray said the good news is that entry level housing - the
sort Keith and Kelly will be buying - tends to hold its value even
in a slow market. It is always in demand, and not a problem to
re-sell.

Keith and Kelly will be eligible for $80 a week from Working for
Families support - by way of a $4160 tax benefit per annum -
because they have a low income and a child under 12.

"In principal, I am in favour of young people buying their first
home - and the sooner the better. The reason is that for many young
people, they just don't have the capacity to save the increased
amount they would have to borrow in a year's time.

I'm not against 100% mortgages for young people either," Murray
Weatherston said. And one more thing for Kelly and Keith: do not
make any calculations around the assumption that Kelly will be able
to work fulltime.

Murray Weatherston's key pointsBe realistic. Your first home will probably not be your
dream house
The earlier you get into the house market the better
First home buyers' property tends to hold it's value; good for
re-sale
Two Government schemes help first time buyers: Welcome Home Loans
and the

Kiwisaver Scheme (to be introduced early 2007)
at:http://hnzc.co.nz/homeownership/index.htm
One third of gross income is plenty to spend on a mortgage
Extra costs - legal fees, mortgage insurance, mortgage
establishment fees, and valuation and LIM reports - could add
thousands to a mortgage.

Footnote:
Keith and Kelly would probably start repaying their mortgage over a
30 year term - that would be the most affordable option now. But
remember, reducing the mortgage term can make quite a big
difference to the total amount you pay back.

Check out the Retirement Commission's website (www.sorted.org.nz) to find out
how much you're really paying on your mortgage over different terms
- say, 20 years compared to 25.

Trading downReporter: Kevin Milne

Mary Reid has bought and sold several homes since the 1970s,
including investment properties. She now feels it is time for a
change and reconsider options. Her house is too big, the children
have left, and she's a widow. The house is on the market, she's
sold her one remaining investment property and by trading down -
buying a cheaper property - Mary hopes for a less stressful
lifestyle.

Mary says she hasn't done well on the property market. She did
not buy and sell for profit, but as family and personal needs
changed. She has not made major capital gains on her houses. She
says she also failed to factor in all the costs of dealing in, and
owning property - real estate fees, maintenance, fluctuations in
rental income and that sort of thing. Consequently, she does not
have as much equity in her house as she'd hoped.

Mary would, however, like to retire in 13 years. We asked
financial advisor Deborah Carlyon to give Mary some investment
options.

Often in situations like Mary's, Deborah would suggest taking a
breather from home ownership and rent for a while. Money from a
property sale could be sitting in the bank earning compound
interest while you reassess your situation.

In Mary's case though, she had an excellent mortgage interest
rate with her bank with another four years to run (yes, you can
negotiate with your bank to move your rate from property to
property). Deborah thought Mary should go ahead and buy another
house.

But Deborah cautioned that with all Mary's money tied up in a
house, she hasn't got any income. Mary needed to build
up investments she can call on for cash in retirement at will.
Deborah says Mary does need to diversify her investments. Buying a
cheaper house means lowering Mary's mortgage to $100,000, or $1100
a month, and still being mortgage- free in 13 years.

At $1100 a month, the lower mortgage means Mary has an extra
$400 a month. Deborah suggested she could drip feed that into
shares: a combination of NZ and Australian shares will pay good
dividends (around 6% before tax). And if earnings increase, then so
do share prices (say 4% per annum). If Mary achieves 8% after tax
every year for 13 years, she will accumulate $110,000.

Alternatively, Mary could use that $400 to pay interest on a
$60,000 loan, and buy shares with that loan. She would need to
reinvest all dividend income into more shares each year. She would
eventually accumulate $210,000. Subtract the $60,000 loan, and
that's a tidy $150,000 retirement nest egg. So by borrowing the
$60,000, Mary could reach a savings goal a little bit quicker, but
with more risk. The cost of borrowing is offset against the
dividend income, making the income "tax free". The overall return
is then 10% instead of 8%. Deborah says there may also be small tax
refunds in the early years and these can be reinvested.

If Mary becomes uncomfortable with the $60,000 loan, she can
always sell some investments to reduce it. Shares can fluctuate in
value, but by holding them for the 13 years Deborah believes she
should achieve a good average return.

Will $150,000 be enough? Mary will receive $1,000 per month net
NZ super when she's 65, so will need another $1,000 a month from
her investments. $150,000 will just be enough to provide $12,000
net per year as long as she uses up the capital progressively over
20 years. Mary may need more than $12,000 by then, even if
inflation is just 2%. So perhaps in 13 years time, Mary may want to
trade down again. Deborah says if the house has increased say, from
$330,000 at an average of 5% per year (a conservative 3% ahead of
inflation), it would be worth $620,000. This may be the time to
move out of Auckland, or into a smaller town house/apartment/unit
and free up an extra say, $200,000. Then at least Mary will have
money available to live on.

Deborah Carlyon's key points
Think about selling, and taking a breather
Do your homework and get expert advice
Diversify: for instance, property and shares
Have some investments that give ready access to cash if you need
it
Have a plan: define goals, attach dollar values, work out the time
frame, and look at your resources (assets and income)

Credit card
Reporte: Natalie Crook

Filling up credit cards is something of a national pastime in
this country. More than 2.5 million credit cards circulate in New
Zealand, and we have a choice of more than 50 different cards.
Annual fees range from $0 to $450, and interest rates vary
between 11 and 20%. We owe nearly three billion bucks worth of
credit card debt.

Pulling out the plastic is painless enough: paying it off
quite the opposite as Jasmine Castle found out.
Jasmine's a single parent of two, who had never considered getting
a credit card. However, an unsolicited brochure turned up in the
mail and suddenly a credit card seemed a good idea. It had a
15.5% interest rate, and no annual membership fee.

Jasmine thought she would just use it for emergencies: doctors'
fees and the like. Instead, she took it shopping: clothes, food,
petrol, a son's birthday. It only took six months to 'max" the card
out: $3500 plus interest.

Like many of us, Jasmine signed up for her piece of plastic
without knowing or understanding how the system works. She did not
know that most credit cards require the monthly bill to be paid off
in full to avoid interest. She thought as long as she paid the
minimum monthly, she would be right. But while Jasmine's credit
card had that lowish interest rate of 15.5%, the interest was
calculated from the date of each transaction. So Jasmine paid
interest on the whole $3500. With a balance of $3500 - the monthly
minimum was $105. It would take 3 years 7 months to pay it off, and
all her repayments would be $4515.

"The interest just kept building and I couldn't keep up," says
Jasmine. "Eventually things got to the point where my whole
financial situation, and especially the credit card debt, were
stressing me out."

Jasmine got help from the Waitakere Budget Service, and has been
paying back $100 a fortnight - she hopes to pay off her remaining
$1200 by Christmas. Jasmine says now she is trying to be a saver.
She says she now encourages her two boys to spend half their pocket
money, but save the rest. "I grew up with no understanding of how
money works or how to budget," Jasmine says. "I have learned more
from the budget service than any other place. I think kids should
be taught these things in school."

The benefit of using the Budget Advice Service is that the
advice is free and confidential; budget advisors are trained; they
often have established relationships with the banks, lenders and so
on. In other words, they have power that you don't. They can
act as an advocate for you.

And finance writer Mary Holm suggests people in Jasmine's
situation could also negotiate directly with the bank. She says it
is the banks' interest to help solve the problem. Mary suggests
breaking the spend-now, pay-later cycle by having one hard year
without the expensive holiday or other luxuries and save instead
for next year. Get ahead, instead of behind your spending and make
interest your friend, as Mary puts it.

Jasmine's message for others: money education should be in
the school curriculum; unless you can afford to pay the whole lot
off each month, and unless you have the education and know how
about how to deal with credit cards - don't go there!

Mary says it's about using your credit card wisely.

Mary Holm's key points
Credit card winners only buy items on the card they can afford, and
only use the card as a convenience, and pay it off in full each
month.

Credit card losers use the card to buy items they want rather
than those they can afford: they end up paying interest; and they
often only make minimum payments.

InheritanceReporter: Greg Boyed

Megan Hedgman and Darren Walker have the sort of dilemma that
most of us can only dream about. They've come into a bit of money:
no, not the lottery, on a much smaller scale than that. But instead
of easing their worries, their windfall has created new
ones.

The couple have just moved out of the house they had been living
in for the past two years because, thanks to an inheritance from
Megan's Dad, they had bought a nice restored villa just down
the road.

Their dilemma: rent out the first property, or sell it. If they
sold, they would be almost mortgage free. If they kept it, there
would be a big mortgage and they would have to get a big rent in to
pay for it. Or they could sell, buy shares with the money, and keep
a biggish mortgage on their new villa.

Megan and Darren have a combined income of around $100,000. But
they are planning a family soon meaning they will then have just
one income of approximately $60,000. They have discovered that
having lots of choices can sometimes be more frustrating than
having none.

Financial advisor Murray Weatherston took a good look at their
situation and his first piece of advice is for anyone looking at
any investment: you have to choose something that suits your
personality, not just your financial situation. Megan admits she's
a worrier - so perhaps shares, with their tendency to go up and
down - would not be right for her. And the couple both admit they
did not think they wanted to be landlords if there was stress
involved.

Murray said when looking at investing in rental property, if you
do not make enough to cover the interest, the rates, insurance and
maintenance then you are actually 'buying' your own capital gain.
This would be a disaster.

If the couple kept the first home to rent out, Murray suggested
they seek tax and accounting advice to ensure the maximum amount of
their borrowings are tax deductible. Murray calculated they would
need at least $1.50-a-week rent for every thousand dollars their
house is valued at. In order for them to do well, they would need
around $800 a week in rent. The couple had put the house up for
rent, and had no takers.

Taking Murray's advice, they put the first house on the market
in order to reduce the mortgage on the second one. They now have a
manageable mortgage, especially given the possibility of only one
income in the future.

Finally, Murray said Megan and Darren need to be sure about
whether they want Megan's inheritance to be matrimonial property,
or Megan's alone.

Murray Weatherston's key pointsEnjoy your investments: they must fit your personality as
well as your financial situation
With inheritance, decide whether you want this to be shared
matrimonial property

Family of four
Reporter: Sandra Kailahi

Denise and Scot Bailey from East Auckland are pulling in a
decent income, budgeting hard, paying a "pretty high" mortgage and
struggling to build up a significant nest egg for themselves and
their two children

Scot is a business development manager for a finance company;
Denise an at-home Mum and a part-time student. Their budget is
pretty tight, they say, and they don't go out to cafes and
restaurant's "every week" and take in a boarder to help with costs.
Household income is $90,000, and about 40% of that services their
mortgage.

The Bailey's have their home on the market now, and they are
looking for something bigger without increasing the mortgage. Their
hopes for improving the savings side of things lies with Denise's
return to work, when they will have an extra $3500 a month to work
with.

They asked financial
advisor Deborah Carlyon what to do with
that extra money: pay off Denise's student loan; pay more on
the mortgage; start savings; invest in their children's education;
buy investments; start a super scheme?

Deborah says first up, relax. Their goal of a mortgage free home
and money for eventual retirement can be achieved. But remember, it
does not all have to be done at once. Age is on their side.

The plan? When Denise goes back to work, put half her monthly
income of $3500 towards paying off the mortgage faster. Reduce it
from 28 to 12 years: halve the term and halve the interest
cost.

When the mortgage is paid off, they can then start putting most
of Denise's income - $3500 a month - into retirement savings for
the next 16 years. By doing that, Deborah figures that Scot and
Denise could retire at 61 with $850,000 in today's money - or
$40,000 a year. Add the $20,000 of New Zealand Super, and they are
looking pretty comfy.

The rest of Denise's income could be allocated to an education
fund or a holiday fund, plus extras as their children reach their
teens. In other words, more choices and a balance between enjoying
lifestyle now as a family and providing for the future.

Here are Deborah's other suggestions:
Put holiday savings in high interest bank account.

Denise should take up the teachers' super scheme (3% of her
income?), which the Government matches.

Long-term savings should be invested for growth, so NZ, Australian
and international shares are appropriate (should return 7.5% to
8.0% net per annum on average)

From 1 April 200, the Kiwisaver scheme will offer a lump sum
government contribution of $1,000 (detail still being
developed.)

As for the student loan - and Deborah says this applies to
anyone out there with an interest free student loan or who
has kids with one - do not pay off the student loan early. Just pay
the 10% minimum from your earnings, as there is no interest on that
loan.

Also she says, set up an emergency fund. Everyone should have
one. In the Bailey's case, Scot has a company car so they should
sell one of their own and put that money into an emergency account.
Add to it as and when you can, but only use it in emergencies.

Deborah says this family are doing all the right things, with
life cover for both which costs just $45 per month. But they
need to add income replacement cover for Scot because he is the
sole earner at the moment. For a premium of around $60 per month,
they would receive $1,225 gross per week if Scot was sick for
longer than 8 weeks.

Deborah Carlyon's key points
If you're paying a mortgage, you're already saving.
Reduce your mortgage term; once mortgage free, you have more
options.
Do not pay off your student loan early, just the minimum.
Every family should have an emergency fund

Supersaver
Reporter: Greg Boyed

Kris de Jong has strong views on how to deal with money. He
started saving early, and now hopes he might be able to retire
at
40. He has not won Lotto, nor inherited money. But Kris has saved,
invested and planned well enough to do just that.

Kris earns about $70,000-a-year. He's worked for MAF since
leaving school and been saving like a demon from day one - putting
around 10% away automatically into savings or investments. Also,
Kris considers hire purchase a dirty word and will not buy anything
on tick.

In fact, he doesn't buy anything he hasn't saved for in advance
except for property. Kris jointly owns a townhouse with partner
Catrina Shallish. His share is mortgage free. He got a foot in the
property door in 1990 with a one bedroom apartment - $30,000
equity, $48,000 mortgage - which he paid off within three years.
Kris said any lump sum payments he got went straight onto reducing
the mortgage. For his next property, Kris took in flatmates to help
with the mortgage, paid that mortgage off in about 5-6 years.

"There was a period there for about two or three years when I
was probably very tight - although I would rather say it was a time
when I prioritised," Kris said.

Kris has bought and sold a few properties. As well as real
estate, he has managed to accumulate about half a million dollars
in investments and savings. He budgets hard; admits to being
boringly frugal earlier in the piece; but both he and Catrina say
they do fun things - go out, take overseas holidays etc.

Unlike most of our other guests, Kris had already taken
professional advice about his finances and his lesson here
is: "I've come to the conclusion that you should really pay
for your advice, because if you're not paying someone then they're
getting their money from somewhere else and it's usually an
institution that gives commission to the advisor, and that advice
is not going to be impartial."

Kris's portfolio now consists of New Zealand and Australian
shares and managed funds. He talks to his advisor about once a
month, and meets up once a year. In retirement, Kris plans to
invest most of the money in high yielding shares, some of which
provide dividends of up to 11%. He says this would ensure
protection of his asset base and hopefully increase it in the long
term as these shares should generally increase in value. He says if
he can achieve an overall return of over 5%, then the extra could
also be added to his portfolio, as a hedge against inflation.

We asked finance writer Mary Holm - who's just written a book
called "Get Rich Slow" - if Kris was being realistic with his
retirement plans. She says absolutely, as long as he's happy to
live on $500 a week ($26,000 annually or a 5% return on his
investments, which is conservative.)

Mary says while Kris has put aside 10% of his salary since day
one, even 3% or 5% would be good. It gets a person into a regular
habit of saving. Also the idea of putting aside extra money is
good. It may be a pay rise, tax cut or a cut in interest rates -
maybe save half of it.

As for investments, Mary says the important thing is to
diversify. Do not have all your eggs in one basket. And you must
remember that you are in the stock market for the long haul: do not
lose your nerve. Think of it as putting $10,000 in an envelope,
then opening it up a year later - and there's only $5000. That's
what the sharemarket can be like. It's the long term that's
the important element.

Murray Weatherston backs investment in a well diversified
portfolio of Australasian shares. He says Kris won't get dividend
yield further abroad.

"It's most important that he diversifies well with no more than
5% of total investment in any one company," says Murray.
He says Kris is right to try to pick stocks with high dividend
yield - at least 3.5% net of tax. Murray recommends that Kris buys
the shares himself. That way he can get rid of fees too.

Mary Holm notes that having no children probably does make a
difference to Kris' ability to save. But Kris has also had no leg
up from family, and he has had an average salary. His strength is
he has had a plan all the way through. And Mary says don't worry
too much about making the odd mistake in investments: if you never
made a mistake in investment that you could say you have been too
conservative. So yes, she says, Kris can retire: he has got time to
make mistakes. He is young enough to make mistakes. And young
enough to self correct if he has to.

Mary Holm's key points
Have a goal, and plan to get there [where do you want to be at 40
or 50?]
Start saving early; get in a savings habit even if it's just 2 or
3%.
If you get a windfall - a tax rebate, a pay rise, a gift - save or
invest at least half.

Budget helpReporter: Hannah Wallis

If you're really deep in financial strife, chances are what you
really need is some free, professional help. Good news! There's
plenty of it out there.

Like the 86 Citizens Advice Bureaux round the country. Do not be
fooled by the name; the bureaux are here for citizens, residents,
non-residents, visitors - in fact, everyone. They deal with all
sorts of disputes and problems, including financial ones. The CAB
do not have trained budget advisors on staff, but they are a good
place to start if you're not quite sure what help you need. Some
CABs do have monthly tax clinics, others offer multilingual service
for refugees and migrants. If you're not sure where your local CAB
is or just need some help pronto try their call free number, 0800
367 222.

Specialist budget advice - free and confidential, with trained
budget advisors - is available from the network of Budget Advice
Centres. Check your white pages telephone directory under, you
guessed it, "budget advice" or "family budget services". There are
150 of these centres nationwide. They include centres for new
migrants with a range of languages, and several for Pacific
Islanders.

And if your money problem involves legal issues, try your local
Community Law office. They can look at finance agreements like
mortgages, car purchases, small loans - and make sure you know what
you are getting into before you sign. (www.communitylaw.org.nz)

For under-25s having legal and financial hassles, there's Youth
Law. They are all about empowering young people with legal advice
and information. Contact them on the web (www.youthlaw.co.nz ) or by
calling 09 309 6967. For free call, dial 010 and follow
instructions.

The final word goes to Raewyn Fox - the CEO of NZ Family Budget
Services - whose organisation helped out both Matt and Jenna and
Jasmine. Raewyn says debts like these can seem insurmountable and
you can feel completely overwhelmed. So getting some advice from an
expert can just shed the light and help you find a way forward.

Key messages areDo a budget - do it now - and re-visit it every time you
think of getting a new loan or taking on a new financial
project
If in trouble, get expert help sooner, not later.

Thank youA special big thanks to all who shared with us their money
troubles - and their successes. With you go our best wishes as you
strive for your goals.

And thanks to all the experts who've advised us. A fair few Fair
Go staff have decided to get professional help after some of the
excellent advice they've heard over past weeks.

Murray Weatherston is a financial planner and advisor who set up
Financial Focus in 1989. Murray can be contacted on 09 303 1447 or
email finfocus@xtra.co.nz

Mary Holm is a finance writer. She can be contacted at the New
Zealand Herald where she has a regular column. She is also
releasing a book, "Get Rich Quick".

Raewyn Fox is CEO of the NZ Federation of Family Budgeting
Services. The Federation itself can be contacted at (04) 471 1420
but for the budgeting centre nearest you, check the white pages
under "family budgeting services".